-Can anyone dethrone the Warriors from being the Champs come Playoff time? Can the Rockets be the team to take down the Warriors come Playoff time? Rockets now have the best record in the league going into the All-Star break! Has anyone noticed but the Jazz have won 11 in a row. They are now 30-28. They are 10th in the West and only 1.5 games behind the Pelicans who are 8th.

-Lakers news = Lakers are currently 11th in the Western Conference with a 23-34 record. They are on pace to win 33 games which would be 7 more than last seasons 26 wins. The Lakers need to get Lonzo healthy and need to regain their Chemistry on Defense during the break.

Here are my Awards at the All-Star break - let me know what you think.*Rookie of the Year = Donovan Mitchell. How the Jazz are 30-28 is a miracle and he is the main reason why averaging 19.6 Points on 44% shooting, and 83.6% from the FT line. Ben Simmons gets consideration but he has Joel Embiid to give him a lot of help. After the Jazz lost Gordon Hayward and George Hill coming into the season, a lot of people had the Jazz winning around 30 games. They have won 30 already and are only 1.5 games out of a Playoff spot.

*DPOY = Paul George. Leads the league in Steals averaging 2.2 a game and the Thunder are 33-26 currently 5th in the West.

*Coach of the Year = Mike D'Antoni. Cant see how this can be debated as the Rockets have the best record in the league at 44-13. He has made the CP3/Harden thing work.

*Most Improved Player of the Year = Victor Oladipo. This guy has turned into a SuperStar over night! Pacers are currently 33-25 and 5th in the East.

*MVP = James Harden. He leads the league in scoring at 31.3 per game and is on the team with the best record in the league.

-Can anyone dethrone the Warriors from being the Champs come Playoff time? Can the Rockets be the team to take down the Warriors come Playoff time? Rockets now have the best record in the league going into the All-Star break! Has anyone noticed but the Jazz have won 11 in a row. They are now 30-28. They are 10th in the West and only 1.5 games behind the Pelicans who are 8th.

-Lakers news = Lakers are currently 11th in the Western Conference with a 23-34 record. They are on pace to win 33 games which would be 7 more than last seasons 26 wins. The Lakers need to get Lonzo healthy and need to regain their Chemistry on Defense during the break.

Here are my Awards at the All-Star break - let me know what you think.*Rookie of the Year = Donovan Mitchell. How the Jazz are 30-28 is a miracle and he is the main reason why averaging 19.6 Points on 44% shooting, and 83.6% from the FT line. Ben Simmons gets consideration but he has Joel Embiid to give him a lot of help. After the Jazz lost Gordon Hayward and George Hill coming into the season, a lot of people had the Jazz winning around 30 games. They have won 30 already and are only 1.5 games out of a Playoff spot.

*DPOY = Paul George. Leads the league in Steals averaging 2.2 a game and the Thunder are 33-26 currently 5th in the West.

*Coach of the Year = Mike D'Antoni. Cant see how this can be debated as the Rockets have the best record in the league at 44-13. He has made the CP3/Harden thing work.

*Most Improved Player of the Year = Victor Oladipo. This guy has turned into a SuperStar over night! Pacers are currently 33-25 and 5th in the East.

*MVP = James Harden. He leads the league in scoring at 31.3 per game and is on the team with the best record in the league.

UPDATED . See you all in a week when the Lakers host the Mavericks next Friday night on the 23rd.

All this tampering. Dang! This is actually good news. The more teams that are interested in players not named Julius Randle, the better the chance we keep him on a reasonable deal or his Qualifying Offer. There simply ain’t enough money to spread around this summer.

lakerevolution wrote:Ken, do you think Magic and Rob are trying to slowly build a younger, skilled team or sort of swinging for the fences by adding two big established stars to what we already have?

A hybrid. They would certainly dispose of Randle quicker than you can say Pistol Pete if LeBron and PG committed, but if they don't I think the fall back would be to continue to develop the young core. If I had my druthers, I would go hard after PG to add to the young core and also go after younger veteran players of a similar age and experience of KCP to help build the young core with. In Portland, Neal Olshey wanted to surround Dame with his peers, nit that that has necessarily worked out, but I think signing 25 - 28 year old veterans who play the style of basketball Luke wants is the way to go. We need shooters, so why not go hard after a guys like Will Barton (27) in addition to Paul George (27)? I think the Lakers can afford both of those guys plus Randle and can sign a rim protector for cheap. It will an interesting summer, but aren't all of them?

If they stick to that 27-29 year old standard and keep the young core, we can compete. The PGs and Kawhis and other saliva-producing prospects notwithstanding, there are sleepers out there who we can only hope our front office has their eyes upon. Next season will really mark the beginning of our return to relevance.

lakerevolution wrote:If they stick to that 27-29 year old standard and keep the young core, we can compete. The PGs and Kawhis and other saliva-producing prospects notwithstanding, there are sleepers out there who we can only hope our front office has their eyes upon. Next season will really mark the beginning of our return to relevance.

Where was Kawhi born? Where was he raised? Where did he go to college? Everyone talks about PG wanting to come home, but is this former NBA Finals MVP our best shot? Jerry West better not pluck him, but ....

lakerevolution wrote:If they stick to that 27-29 year old standard and keep the young core, we can compete. The PGs and Kawhis and other saliva-producing prospects notwithstanding, there are sleepers out there who we can only hope our front office has their eyes upon. Next season will really mark the beginning of our return to relevance.

Where was Kawhi born? Where was he raised? Where did he go to college? Everyone talks about PG wanting to come home, but is this former NBA Finals MVP our best shot? Jerry West better not pluck him, but ....

Who knows. He may be on the move this summer.

Kawhi Leonard, born and raised in Los Angeles, California 6'7 230 - Age 26. Who knows? The way the Spurs are handling his injury is so odd, I don't even understand it one bit. Nobody misses a whole season due to a Quad injury. There is friction in San Antonio between he and Pop and the Spurs doctors is my take. When healthy, we are talking about a Top 5-7 player in the league here! He is slightly better than PG-13 even but not as Great as LeBron or Durant regarding players that play that position. Still is the 3rd best Wing in the League IMO when healthy ahead of PG-13.

-We would have to trade for him though is the only problem. He isn't a Free Agent until the 2020-2021 Season. We can just sign PG-13 this summer.

-Lakers news = Lakers are currently 11th in the Western Conference with a 24-34 record. They are now on pace to win 34 games which would be 8 more than last seasons 26 wins.

-Now that we are in the stretch run, here are my Top 10 Power Rankings for the whole league:1. Rockets - Has the potential to win the NBA Championship2. Warriors - Has the potential to win the NBA Championship3. Raptors - Has the potential to win the East4. Celtics - Has the potential to win the East5. The LeBron - Has the potential to win the East6. Spurs - Has the potential to make the Conference Finals if Leonard is healthy7. Thunder - I put them here and think they have the potential to make the Conference Finals8. Pacers - I put them here, to me they are better than the Bullets and Wolves. Has the potential to make it too Round 29. Timberwolves - Has the potential to make it too Round 210. Bullets - Has the potential to make it too Round 2 if Wall comes back healthy

Dwyane Wade with game winning shot in Ben Simmons face tonight. He scored 15 of the last 17 points Miami scored. 3rd greatest closer ever IMO only behind Jordan and Kobe. Flash is back home where he belongs! LeBron may be the better all-time player but remember LeBron needed him to get over the hump to win a Title, not the other way around. Wade is in my Top 20 ever IMO and I will stick by that.

My Top 20 hasn't really changed much in a long while, it still reads:1. Michael Jordan - GOAT, 6-0 in Finals, 5 League MVPs, and 6 Finals MVP's.

4. Wilt Chamberlain - Better than Russell, his Stats are unmatchable, and he also won Championships with 2 different teams.

5. Bill Russell - Has to be Top 5 due to his impact on the game and 11 Championships won if I am being real. He had Offensive liabilities but his Defense, Rebounding, and Team play made up for that. I mean I would look like a biased asshole if I had 4 Lakers in the Top 5 .

6. Kobe Bryant - 5 time NBA Champion, 3rd all-time Leading Scorer. I think ranking him at 6th is very fair, most of the media have LeBron ahead of him and have him around 8th or 9th.

7. Tim Duncan

8. Shaq O'Neal

9. LeBron James

10. Larry Bird

11. Oscar Robertson

12. Hakeem Olajuwon

13. Jerry West

14. Moses Malone

15. John Havlicek

16. Elgin Baylor

17. Karl Malone

18. Julius Erving

19. Isiah Thomas

20. Dwyane Wade belongs here in my opinion, dude has won 3 Championships and got LeBron over the hump.

3Peatkb24 wrote:Dwyane Wade with game winning shot in Ben Simmons face tonight. He scored 15 of the last 17 points Miami scored. 3rd greatest closer ever IMO only behind Jordan and Kobe. Flash is back home where he belongs! LeBron may be the better all-time player but remember LeBron needed him to get over the hump to win a Title, not the other way around. Wade is in my Top 20 ever IMO and I will stick by that.

My Top 20 hasn't really changed much in a long while, it still reads:1. Michael Jordan - GOAT, 6-0 in Finals, 5 League MVPs, and 6 Finals MVP's.

4. Wilt Chamberlain - Better than Russell, his Stats are unmatchable, and he also won Championships with 2 different teams.

5. Bill Russell - Has to be Top 5 due to his impact on the game and 11 Championships won if I am being real. He had Offensive liabilities but his Defense, Rebounding, and Team play made up for that. I mean I would look like a biased asshole if I had 4 Lakers in the Top 5 .

6. Kobe Bryant - 5 time NBA Champion, 3rd all-time Leading Scorer. I think ranking him at 6th is very fair, most of the media have LeBron ahead of him and have him around 8th or 9th.

7. Tim Duncan

8. Shaq O'Neal

9. LeBron James

10. Larry Bird

11. Oscar Robertson

12. Hakeem Olajuwon

13. Jerry West

14. Moses Malone

15. John Havlicek

16. Elgin Baylor

17. Karl Malone

18. Julius Erving

19. Isiah Thomas

20. Dwyane Wade belongs here in my opinion, dude has won 3 Championships and got LeBron over the hump.

I flip flop between Russell and Kobe at 5 a lot but I just don't see how anyone can keep Russell out of the Top 5? Russell is on most peoples Mt Rushmore. I am very unbiased when I do these lists because I do hate the Celtics and love the Lakers but my above list is a great one IMO. I have LeBron at 9, to me he still he isn't Top 5. Kobe is Top 5ish more than he is. I still think LeBron and Bird are real even, I gave the nod to LeBron by a hair in the above rankings mainly because he has been the best player in this Generation for a while. I still don't look at players like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry as Top 20 material of all-time, they are just a formed SuperTeam now that should win it every year. Both are definitely Top 30 of all-time IMO though. I'll keep Wade at 20 for now as he deserves it.

Honestly, LeBron needs to be ahead of Shaq at this point. Stats, awards, consecutive Finals appearances, consistentcy and all-around skill set. He's a better athlete than Timmy too. Folks will be trying to put him in the Top 5 when his career is over.

lakerevolution wrote:Honestly, LeBron needs to be ahead of Shaq at this point. Stats, awards, consecutive Finals appearances, consistentcy and all-around skill set. He's a better athlete than Timmy too. Folks will be trying to put him in the Top 5 when his career is over.

I would like to see him win 1 more Championship before I do that. If he can somehow beat the Warriors than I agree 100%. It's not all about Championships but I also look at the long stable career Duncan had and he is regarded as the Greatest PF ever with 5 Championships. Shaq won 3 Finals MVP's in a row which nobody will ever do again IMO. Those things are hard to overlook and he has won 4 Championships. LeBron has the same amount of Championships as Larry Bird has = 3 and has only 1 more League MVP.

-When I look at players like Durant and Curry, if they keep winning Championships and piling up the Stats they will have to be moved into the Top 20 IMO, as of now they are not yet IMO. I mean Top 5 is real Elite shit, I flip flop with Kobe and Russell all the time. I deserve 1 flip flop in my list lifetime and that is it Do I think Bill Russell was a better Basketball player than Kobe Bryant? - probably not. But I think he had more impact on the game for his time and nobody will ever win 11 Championships again being an Alpha Dog, not even close. As great as Jordan was he only won 6 and had the REFS in his back pocket for a decade